There are many uses for support members that are retractable when the item they are supporting is not in use. For example, portable tables can be made so that the legs of the table can be retracted to lie flat against the underside of the table when it is not in use. However, when the legs are extended for use, they need to be capable of being sufficiently locked in place in order to adequately support the table and any items placed thereon.
Furthermore, such portable tables are often utilized in situations where set up and vice versa need to be performed quickly and efficiently, such as in situations where there are numerous such tables to be utilized. Correspondingly, when the tables no longer need to be utilized, there are situations where their legs then need to be quickly and efficiently retracted for removal of the tables from their location of use and subsequent storage in a stackable manner.
Many mechanisms have been designed for such retractable support members, but which can be relatively difficult to manually retract.